Industrie Generali aims for January restart at Vinyls Italia Ravenna

09 November 2011 11:41[Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production at the ?xml:namespace>Ravenna unit of Vinyls Italia could resume as soon as January, with Italian plastics distributor and producer Industrie Generali having closed a long-awaited deal for the business, the buyer said on Wednesday.

Production of 100,000 tonnes/year at the unit’s 140,000 tonne/year suspension PVC plant in Ravenna, northeast Italy, would be targeted in the first year, Industrie Generali said.

Twice that amount would be targeted in the second year of production following a capacity expansion, it added.

In late October, negotiations for the acquisition of the unit by Industrie Generali broke down at the last minute over waste disposal expenditure issues, which the Italian economic development ministry said had since been resolved.

Italy’s Eni had agreed to supply feedstock for PVC production at Ravenna under the new owner, Industrie Generali added.

Vinyls Italia entered special administration and froze production at its Ravenna, Porto Marghera and Porto Torres sites more than two years ago after owner Fiorenzo Sartor requested the state intervene shortly after he acquired the business from Swiss group INEOS.

The ministry said it is continuing to work toward viable deals that could lead to the opening of Porto Marghera, near Venice, which has PVC and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) units with capacities of 185,000 tonnes/year and 250,000 tonnes/year, respectively, and Porto Torres in Sardinia, which has a 120,000 tonne/year VCM facility and a 65,000 tonne/year emulsion PVC plant.